Animal traps are cruel

October 2, 2012

With winter coming, I'm becoming increasingly worried about the animals - both wildlife and our animal companions - who will suffer and die in steel-jaw traps.

I was a wildlife rehabilitator for 15 years. People would call me at all hours of the day and night, often frantic and crying, about an injured animal caught in one of these cruel traps.

Trapped animals often languish for 24 to 48 hours before the trapper returns to kill them. By that time, many animals are so exhausted from struggling that they lie still, waiting to die. According to the law, trappers may kill animals "in any manner." Many bludgeon or beat the animals to death.

One time I found a red fox in a trap. She was dead, and another fox was lying beside her. He got up and went into the bushes when he saw me. I took the dead fox out of the trap, and laid her stiff cold body off in the bushes so that her mate could be with her.

There is nothing more barbaric on the face of this Earth. No fur coat is worth it. Fur isn't necessary, and I beg you not to wear it. There is enough suffering in this world already.